Many modern vehicles are equipped with key fobs that communicate, via radio, with a receiver in the vehicle to provide services such as remote keyless entry (RKE), remote starting, security and immobilizer functions, etc. Additional systems in the vehicle, such as tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and passive keyless entry (PKE) may also use radio communications between transmitters and a receiver in the vehicle. It is not uncommon to have four or more radio transceivers, typically employing different frequencies ad/or modulations, employed in modern vehicles to provide the variety of desired control functions. As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, the replication of radio transceivers increases the costs of manufacturing the vehicle while still not providing for some of the functionality that may otherwise be desired.
One example of a generally unavailable functionality is a vehicle locator service which provides an indication of at least the range and bearing of the vehicle relative to the key fob held by a user. Another example of a generally unavailable functionality is a key fob which can interact with and/or control more than one vehicle, and/or control or interact with other controllers in an expanded wireless area network.